The Stars are Bright Tonight
by Eve Orchideous
Summary: This is a short, sweet Harry Ginny fanfic. It takes place a few years after the two graduate from hogwarts and also includes a flashback. So with out further ado i present you my first fanfic...the stars are bright tonight...please read and review!


Disclaimer: I am not the richest women in England and I'm not a genius, meaning I'm not J.K. Rowling, meaning I do not own Harry Potter.(or Ginny, or any of the other characters in the books). Also, I do not own the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ron, are you ready?" Harry said anxiously.  
  
"Yes, I'm about to leave," Ron replied.  
  
"Ok, but really, are you sure you're up to this?" said Harry in a serious tone.  
  
"Yes, stop worrying everything will be fine," Ron said slightly impatiently.  
  
"Yeah but, but you've never been quite the greatest at spell work, and you know this is a really important thing, a huge responsibility."  
  
"Oh come off it Harry at least I have a real wand now that's all in one piece," Ron said to Harry who grimaced at the thought of Ron's previous wand. "And I'll have Hermione with me so she won't let anything bad happen, I can guarantee you."  
  
"Well I'm not sure if that's supposed to reassure me, just don't get caught up in one of those snog-fests of yours, will you?" Ron's ears flushed though he knew Harry was only teasing him.  
  
"Right, see you, then," said Ron.  
  
"Ok. Bye Ron, good luck!" Harry sighed and shook hands with Ron who pulled Harry into a friendly, one-armed hug.  
  
"You too Harry, good luck."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The day passed by and soon enough Harry found himself at the Burrow where he had been invited for dinner. Ever since he, Ron, and Hermione graduated from Hogwarts, Harry had frequented the burrow quite often, whether to play a game of quidditch, wizard chess or exploding snap with the boys or to have one Mrs. Weasley's home cooked meals. Harry had his own flat in London, but as he never really learned to cook, the Burrow had become a second home for him. Also, he really enjoyed the company at the burrow, especially now that Ginny had graduated from Hogwarts. The two had finally started going out in Harry's seventh year but their relationship had been temporarily put on pause when Ginny had to stay at Hogwarts to complete her seventh year.  
Mr. Weasley was cooking tonight because Molly was in Egypt visiting Bill and Fleur who had recently celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary. Ron and Hermione were also absent at dinner because they were busy with.something else.  
After dinner Mr. Weasley retired to his room to owl his wife. Harry invited Ginny to accompany him on a stroll outside. They walked arm in arm around the gardens and meadows at the burrow until they reached a large and ancient weeping willow tree in the middle of a clear field. The pair lay down on their backs on the soft grass and gazed up at the stars. "Wow," Ginny said dazed, "This is much more appealing than the astronomy tower." "Yeah, I guess star-gazing is a lot nicer if you're not smashing you're eye into a telescope and recording everything on a star-chart." Ginny smiled at Harry's comment and they both stared back up at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight." said Ginny vaguely.  
  
"Ha-ha," Harry remarked sarcastically, "Reminds me of the centaurs in my first year."  
  
"I know." Ginny smirked at Harry's questioning raising of the eyebrows. "Ron wasn't joking when he said I'd memorized you're entire history," said Ginny as her cheeks though barely visible in the dark, grew slightly pink at the thought.  
  
"That's written up in books as well?" Harry asked smiling to himself at the idea that the young girl who had had a crush on him and had memorized his life story was sitting in front of him, a beautiful, young woman now, and the single girl he loved. "Look, there's the constellation Draco." Harry said pointing into the sky.  
  
"Hmm. I'm surprised Malfoy hasn't used that one yet. I can just see him strutting about, 'Well Potter, I'm far more important than you because I, unlike you, have a constellation named after me.'" Harry had to laugh at Ginny's fabulous imitation of Malfoy.  
  
"Well, it looks a bit stupid if you ask me. It's a completely random shape, not much to boast about." Harry said, still cracking up.  
  
"Yeah but not nearly as ugly as he is," Ginny added letting out a high- pitched squeal of laughter. The two sat there laughing with each other about nothing much at all anymore. Just enjoying being with each other, together once again. Eventually their laughing died down as Harry scanned the sky. To Ginny he appeared to be searching intently for something in particular. Suddenly Harry sat up against the old tree and raised a pointing finger to the sky saying in a low voice, "Look Gin, see that star straight ahead.The brightest star in the sky.Do you know what that is?" At his words Ginny sat up gravely, her eyes following the direction towards which his finger was pointing and nodded solemnly. "Sirius," Harry whispered his voice wavering slightly. Ginny looked at Harry who was staring down at the grass, not really focused on it, his eyes glazed over. His mind was in a different, faraway place. She placed her hand on his cheek feeling his smooth skin, as a single tear trickled out of the corner of Harry's eye and flowed onto Ginny's warm fingertips. Harry brought his eyes, filled with unshed tears, up to hers, and met her gaze. He drew Ginny closer to him in a tight, warm embrace, as though asking for her strength. She moved onto his lap snuggling her head against his chest, as he slowly stroked her hair. They sat nestled there in the dark under the weeping willow, holding each other, their fingers entwined. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Upstairs in his study Mr. Weasley looked up from his letter. Peering out the window, over his horn-rimmed glasses he saw the couple snuggling together under the tree and it triggered something in the back of his mind. What did this remind him of? He thought to himself. Could it be Lily and James? Well the two did look quite a bit like Harry's parents when they were together. The resemblance was quite cute actually, but that wasn't it. Just as he was about to put the thought aside, a memory came back to him, clear as the night sky now engulfing Harry and Ginny.  
Almost twenty years before, Mr. Weasley took quite an interest in muggle preschools, since he had many youngsters in the family and there weren't wizarding preschools. Arthur found the things muggles taught their youngsters, fascinating and began to explore many of such schools throughout Britain. One day, he stumbled upon the ramshackle preschool that none other than the famous Harry Potter attended. Ever since that day, Arthur made frequent visits to the place to observe Harry and see how he was doing. One day he brought Ginny along with him. "Come on Ginny!" yelled Molly Weasley bustling about the house rounding up her children, "We're going to Diagon Alley for the day and we're supposed to meet Remus Lupin at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch and oh we mustn't be late. Lord knows he doesn't need any more worries to plague his mind," She continued not really directing her comments to anyone, just spilling out her mind and becoming overly exasperated. "Ugh.Ginny are you coming?" "NO," came a small but powerful voice. "What was that dear?" "I'm not coming," said the little 2 year old redhead. Ginny's stubborn side was already starting to develop at this young age. "What do you mean you're not coming," her mother questioned sternly, "You must come with us honey, the whole family's coming, and don't you want to meet Remus? He's got to be one of the nicest men you'll ever meet." "I don't want to go," Ginny said defiantly folding her arms across her chest. A frazzled Mrs. Weasley stared firmly at her daughter and then stole a quick look at her watch, nearly jumping ten feet in the air at the time it displayed. "Oh, Arthur, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley called. "Would you mind..Ginny doesn't want.Remus will be...oh.the time.oh the TIME!!" "Yes, Molly dear, I'm well aware of the situation," Arthur, who had just come downstairs because of all the commotion, said calmly. "I'll be happy to mind Ginny while you go on your way. I'm sure Remus will understand, and do give him my regards." "Oh thank you so much Arthur! I don't know what I'd do without you!" said Molly giving him a quick peck that almost missed his cheek as she tumbled out of the door, her six boys trailing behind her. "So Ginny, you wanted to stay here, I know. But how about if we go on our own little trip? No not to Diagon alley," Arthur added seeing Ginny's arms crossed once again, "but to a different place." "Where, daddy, where?!?!?!?" she asked, dropping her stubbornness in a wake of excitement. "Oh, you'll see. It's a surprise," replied Arthur to his eager daughter as he crossed the room and got a baby rattle from inside an old cabinet. "What's that, daddy?" asked Ginny who, at her age, had had very little experience with wizarding methods of traveling. "This is called a portkey. If we both put our hands on it, than this rattle will spin us around and take us to our destination, to the surprise place, ok?" Dumbledore had granted Mr. Weasley's request and set up a portkey to Harry's preschool so Arthur could check in on Harry as often as he liked. "Portkey.portkey!" Ginny squealed clapping her miniscule hands together. "Right, shall we go then?" "Yes, yes!" Ginny replied anxiously as Mr. Weasley positioned his own hands, and hers on the baby rattle, and off they went.  
  
"Uhgff...," Mr. Weasley grunted as they landed in a small, quiet room. Dumbledore had created this room as a landing for the portkey, or as a place for Mr. Weasley to apparate to, since there were no wizarding establishments near-by. Dumbledore had magicked it to look like a normal telephone booth to muggles, and he'd also added charms preventing them from entering it. "That was fun! Can we do it again?" asked Ginny, toppling over as she tried to stand up. "Well, when we leave we can, but for now, let's get going," responded her father, glad that someone in the family had a stomach that found portkeys suitable. At this, they walked out the door of the room and into the sunny, but dismal looking muggle town~ Well, any muggle towns were quite unexciting compared to wizarding ones, but this one was particularly dreary.  
The two strolled down the sidewalk, Ginny determined to keep up with her father's long strides. Eventually they reached the small, bleak building in which the preschool was located, and walked into the room. Mr. Weasley approached one of the young, female teachers, who seemed to recognize him and murmured in a low voice, "I brought my two-year-old daughter along with me today. Is it ok if she just plays with the other kids?" "Of course," replied the woman. She then leaned over and smiling at Ginny continued, "And who do we have here?" "Ginny!" said the girl boldly. "Nice to meet you Ginny," she said kindly and then speaking louder, called to the other children. "Everyone, we have another girl with us today. Her name is Ginny, please be nice to her!" As the kids continued with their activities, Ginny moved over and joined a group of them playing "house." Seeing that Ginny was well-received by the other boys and girls, Mr. Weasley retreated to wooden chair in the corner of the room and began reading his daily prophet (he'd charmed it to look like a muggle post), periodically looking over at his daughter and Harry who were now playing together.  
Later that day the teacher called for all the kids who had jobs to do them at that time. One boy had to push in the chairs, another two had to pass out snack, and Harry was to sweep the floors. Mr. Weasley felt it was a bit accident-prone to let a small three-year-old use a broom that was at least twice his size, so Arthur kept a wary eye on Harry. Fortunately Harry managed to complete his duty with no harm done, so Mr. Weasley returned to his daily prophet. He looked up a bit later only to discover that Harry and Ginny were galloping around on the broom, pretending they were flying. Now, this, Arthur believed was quite dangerous, and upon looking at his watch he decided this would be a good time for he and Ginny to depart. As he walked over to the spot where Harry and Ginny were, the two got off the broom, apparently trying to look quite innocent. Arthur had a soft spot for the two and decided not to scold them, but he did tell Ginny that it was time for them to leave. Ginny gave her father a forlorn look, but made to follow him. As she did so Harry gently patted her on the shoulder. She turned around to face him as he said, "Wait Ginny, will you marry me?" Ginny looked at Harry and let out a soft giggle. Arthur remembered every detail of this scene: Ginny standing there with her hands behind her back in her adorable blue dress and her tufts of red-hair in two pigtails, and Harry, scar partially visible behind his ever-messy hair and his skinny body draped with a far too big green sweat-suit. It was heart- warming..  
Arthur smiled at this lovely memory he'd been able to retrieve from depths of his mind. It had always been fairly apparent that these two were truly meant for each other, and this memory seemed to confirm it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Harry and Ginny were still cuddling under the weeping willow, but a hundred miles away in the middle of another clear field Ron and Hermione, who'd also been enjoying some quality time together, stirred. Hermione looked at her watch and nudged Ron saying, "It's time, Ron. We can't mess this up, come on." At this, both of them stood up, raising their arms and pointing their wands into the sky.. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw a flicker of light streak across the sky, but she did not want to withdraw from Harry's warm arms. Soon enough Ginny saw another stream of light, and then another, and another. Thinking this was quite peculiar she pulled away from Harry slightly, though remaining quite close to him. Her eyes, as they focused on the night sky, met the most fascinating and breathtaking sight ever. Shooting stars were continuously appearing in the darkness and flying through the sky as if they each had a particular destination. As she watched the scene she realized that not only did the stars have a certain destination, but each and every one of the shimmering stars was positioned to spell out the words, "Ginny, will you marry me?" As she noticed these fateful words Ginny saw that one of the stars seemed to be falling. The star that had accounted for the dot of the question mark was gracefully descending toward the ground, toward the couple in fact. And to Ginny's astonishment it landed right in the palm of Harry's hand. This one however was not a star at all, but a diamond ring with a gold band, glinting in the moonlight. Harry looked up once again at Ginny, holding the ring out to her. Her eyes were shining as brightly as the stars above them as she sincerely and adoringly whispered, "Yes." Harry moved his head closer getting lost in her hazel eyes before he closed his own. His smooth lips touched hers as he kissed her gently. Ginny returned the kiss and she affectionately played her fingers through his untidy hair. The feeling was exhilarating, as he ran his hands along her neck and back, and she cherished his soft touch. She was far more contented than even words can express. She would be spending the rest of her life with this amazing man of her dreams. Ginny felt as though she could stay there under the weeping willow tree with Harry in her arms, absorbed in his touch, his spirit, his soul forever.and she could sense that the feeling was mutual.  
  
Did you ever know that you're my hero,  
  
and everything I would like to be?  
  
I can fly higher than an eagle,  
  
for you are the Wind Beneath My Wings.  
  
It might have appeared to go unnoticed,  
  
but I've got it all here in my heart.  
  
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.  
  
I would be nothing without you.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Back in the study, Mr. Weasley signed his name and began to roll up his letter to send to his wife, when he aimlessly looked out of the window again. He stared into the night gradually taking in everything he saw. Then he unrolled the letter, dipped his quill back in the ink bottle and slowly wrote: P.S. Harry is now truly part of the family...! 


End file.
